Post driving apparatus



July 14, 1953 A. H. NELSON POST DRIVING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 13, 1949 Ami ri l July-14, 1953 A. H. NELSON POST unzvmc. APPARATUS 2'- Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 15, 1949 Patented July 14, 1953 UNI TED STATES PAT ENT OFFICE ros'r DRIVING APPARATUS nl fredH. Nelson, Grove City, Minn.

Application May '13, 1949, Serial No.-92,971

'1 My invention relates to an improvement in post driving apparatus wherein it is desired to provide a means of driving posts throughthe use of the dumpbody'ofa truck or the like.

Various devices have been employed for driving fenceposts and similar devices. Certain of these devices use the dump body of a truck or 'similar vehicle for producing the driving force.

While such devices are probably capable of accomplishing their intended purpose, they are usually rather complicated in nature and costly to build. It is an object of the present invention to provide a fence driving apparatus embodied upon a truck havinga dump body which is extremely simple and which may be applied or removed in an extremely short period of time.

The object of the present invention lies in the provision of a fence driving apparatus which in- "cludes a beam or othersuppor't which may be at- .tached to the frame of a vehicle to extend trans- In the event the fence post should become slightly deflected due to engagement witha large rock or other object below the surface of the ground, a considerable strain is exerted on such previous structures due to the fact that they can travel only in a vertical line. In my construction a cap or similar deviceis provided for engagement with the top of the post and the cap is pulled downwardly by means of a'suitable pulley arrangement. As a result if the fence post should strike an immovable object and should be defiected thereby, the angle of the post may be changed to some extent without injury to the driving mechanism or to the post. If the deiiection of the post is excessive, the post may be removed and driven in another location.

A feature of the .present'inv'enti'on lies in the fact that my device may be employed for either driving a post into the ground or pulling one from the ground. The member connected to the post is flexible and may be attached either to the upper end of the post or to the lower end thereof and the post :may be moved in either direction.

In the past it has. been felt necessary to employ a vertical mast .which carries the fence driving device.

2 Claims. (01.254 29) A feature of thepresentinvention lies in'the fact that the member connected to the post is flexible. As a result the relativelocationof'the driving and pulling mechanism need not be as precise as where the driving mechanism "may move only in a single vertical line.

These and other objects and novelfeatures of my invention will be more clearly and fullyset forth in the followingspecification "and claims.

In the drawings'for'niing a part of my specification:

,Figure 1 is a perspective view of 'a truck on which my postdriving andpulling apparatus is mounted.

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of the front of the truck body showing the part's attached thereto.

Figure 3 is a perspective view 'of the bracket mounted upon the truck body'for operating the driving or pulling cable.

Figure 4 is a perspective view 'of the operating end of the apparatus in position to pull the post from the ground.

Figure 5 is a perspective viewof the cap for driving the post into the ground.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a clamping device which may be used to pull the post from the ground. p

The fence driving and pulling apparatus A is designedfor use with a dump truck B. The dump truck B is preferably provided with a body 10 which is supported upon a transverse pivot so that the forward end ll of the body It) may be elevated. A suitable hoisting mechanism not illustrated in detail in the drawing is employed for elevating the forward end of the truck body. The truck B includes a chassis usually having a pair of laterally spaced frame members l2 and I3. The body. I0 is supported spaced rearwardly from the cab 14 of the truck so as to expose a short length of the frame members l2 and I3 between the forward end H of the dump body and the rear of the cab l4.

A cross support or beam I5 is mounted upon the frame members [2 and I3 to extend at substantially right angles with respect thereto. This beam is mounted between the forward end ll of the dump body and the rear of the cab It in position so that it does notinterfere with the raising and lowering of the dump body. The beam 15 is held in place by U-bolts l6 or other suitable means. The U-bolts l6 extend over the beam I5 and connect the beamto the frame members I2 and I3. A bracket I1 is preferably employed to con- 36 and extends over this pulley 46.

nect one end of the operating cable to the dump body II. The bracket I! is constructed as best illustrated in Figure 3 of the drawings and includes an inverted channel shaped body [9 including a top flange 20 and parallel side flanges 2| and 22. A horizontally extending flange 23 is connected to the lower end of the flange 2| to extend forwardly from the end H of the body ill. The distance the flange 23 extends is suffiicent to space the cable away from the dump body so that'it will not strike the body as the body is raised and lowered. A brace 24 may extend from a point near the top flange 26 to the extremity of the flange 23 so as to further support this flange 23.

An aperture 25 is provided in the flange 23 for accommodating the end of an eye bolt 26. The threaded aperture 2? may also be provided in the body flange 22 so as to accommodate a thumb screw or set screw by means of which the bracket may be secured in place on the body. The channel shaped portion !9 of the bracket is of proper size to accommodate the upper edge 29 of the body wall l l.

A pulley 36 is mounted upon the beam l below the bracket ill. The pulley 36 includes a rotatable pulley sheave 3! about which the operating cable 32 may extend. One end of the cable 32 is connected to the eye bolt 23, the cable end preferably being doubled through the eye of this bolt. .The pulley 38 is preferably located so that the cable will extend directly down'from the bracket H to the pulley sheave.

A double pulley 33 is supported at the outer extremity of the beam 15. This double pulley 33 includes a pair of spaced pulley sheaves 36 and '35 which are supported on parallel axes, and spaced apart a distance just sufficient to accommodate the cable 32 therebetween. The

cable 32 extends about the upper pulley sheave 3 3 when the device is being used to drive a post into the ground. The cable extends over the lower pulley 35 when the device is being used to pull a post from the ground.

A cap 36 is provided on the end of the cable opposite the end connected to the eye bolt 26. The cap 36 may be of various shapes and is shown as comprising a cylindrical body having an upper closed end 39. A pair of lugs 46 extend radially from the body 35 on opposite sides thereof and a pair of chain lengths M are flexibly connected to the lugs All. The chain lengths ll are connected together at 42 and connected to the extremity of the cable 32 in any suitable manner. The chain lengths A! are of equal size and form a bridle by means of which the straight pull may be exerted upon the cap 36. A transversely extending bar 33 is secured in any suitable manner to the cab M of the truck. This bar 43 extends transversely in generally parallel relation to the beam H5. The bar 43 is connected byan off-set 64 to an arm end 45 which is located directly above the pulley 33. The off-set 46 is of suiiicient length to compensate for the distance between the cab M and the forward end H of the truck body. A pulley 46 is mounted at the extremity of the arm end 45. A light cable or similar flexible connection is secured to the closed end 39 of the cap A spring 49 is connected to the opposite extremity 50 of the bar 43 so as to exert an upward ull upon the cable M, The spring 69 and cable H are of proper dimension to support the cap 35 above thelevel of a post before it is driven into the ground. The spring 49 acts to return the cap operation.

In the operation of my apparatus as a post driver, the post is placed alongside of the pulley 33 and in close proximity thereto and is held in vertical position. The cap 36 is positioned directly over the top of the post. The dump body H is then elevated in the usual manner so as to raisethe forward end ll thereof. This action causes a downward pull to be exerted through the cable 32 upon the cap 36, moving the cap over the upper end of the fence post 5! and moving the fence post downwardly. As the hoists raising the dump body are possessed of substantial strength, the post may usually be driven into the ground with little difficulty. The driving action may be stopped at any point by stopping the body elevating mechanism and allowing the body to drop into normal position. The spring 49 raises the cap 36 as the body. ill lowers.

In the event the fence post 5| strikes a rock or other obstruction and becomes deflected, the flexible connection between the cap 36 and the pulley 33 compensates for any angularity of the post. At the same time the cap tends to draw the post downwardly in vertical position unless the post is deflected by some solid mass. If the post becomes deflected due to such an obstruction the post may be driven at a slight angle or else may be Withdrawn and driven in a slightly different location.

In Figure 6 of the drawings I disclose a device useful in removing the posts 5| from the ground. This device comprises a bracket having a pair of angularly extending flanges 52 and 53. The flange 56 is provided with a hook shaped projection 5A thereupon designed to accommodate the vertical flange of the post 5i. The cable 32 is designed to extend through a suitable aperture 55 in the flange 52.

As the cable 32 is drawn upwardly the clamp produces a binding action upon the post which looks the member to the post and allows it to be pulled upwardly by the cable 32. In this event the cable 32 passes over the pulley sheave 35.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and operation of my post driving and extracting apparatus, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiments thereof, I desire to have it understood that obvious changes may be made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A fence driving. apparatus for use in conjunction with a truck having a dump body, the apparatus including a frame member extending laterally from the truck adjacent to the raisable end of the truck body, a bracket ens gageable with the upper edge of the body and including a forwardly extending portion, flexible means connected to the extending portion of said bracket and extending downwardly to said frame member, a pair of spaced pulleys on said frame member, one of said pulleys being at the outer end of the frame member, said flexible means operatively engaging with said pulleys, and means on the other end of said flexible means designed for engaging with the top of a post. I

2. A fence driving apparatus for use in conjunction with a truck having a dump body, the

5 apparatus including a frame member extendin laterally from the truck adjacent to the raisable end of the truck body, flexible means connected to the raisable end of the truck body and extending directly downwardly to said frame member, a pair of spaced pulleys on said member, one of said pulleys being at the outer end of the frame member, said flexible means operatively engaging said pulleys, an inverted cup member engageable with the top of a post, and

a bridle connected at opposite sides of said cup 6 member, said flexible means being connected centrally to said :bridle.

ALFRED H. NELSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 7 Date 817,553 Frink Apr 10, 1906 2,244,899 Smith June 10, 1941 2,456,852 Anderson Dec. 21, 1948 

